My students need a sand table, a water play kit, number and alphabet shells, and other materials to learn math and reading readiness skills through exploration.
Do you remember what it was like to be in Kindergarten and wanting to learn everything? It is common for these curious learners to say, "I came to school to learn to read today!" In order to help this love of learning thrive, teachers must find a way to offer success. Hands on learning does that!
Our school has approximately 560 students.
Thirty-seven percent of them are on free and reduced lunch. My Kindergarten class is made up of 24 curious students who are ready to learn! Many of them have attended a preschool program. I work to build a readiness foundation upon which these students can build a future of success. These students, with varied amounts of readiness, will progress beyond counting to addition and subtraction. They will go beyond letter names and sounds to reading and writing their own sentences and paragraphs.
Research states that students learn best when they are actively involved in learning. They must see, hear, touch, feel, and (when appropriate) taste to find that learning is fun and engaging. Some areas needing a hands on approach are measurement, capacity, and developing conservation. The best way to experience these concepts is through the use of a sand and water table with tools, such as funnels, measuring cups, strainers, and sifters.
My Project
Whether using sand or water, students begin to predict and verify amounts that jars, cups, and bottles will hold and that these amounts remain the same regardless of the shape of the container. Conservation of liquids is developed through much exploration and many interactions with sand and water. Piaget's theory says that by six or seven, most children develop the ability to conserve number, length, and liquid volume. Conservation refers to the idea that a quantity remains the same despite changes in appearance.
Using a sand and water table in the Kindergarten classroom offers the young student the opportunities to work and play with these materials allowing them to make observations and confirm their ideas about quantities. Students begin to be able to judge quantity and capacity after much exploration with materials.
Using sand or water, students can build number and letter knowledge by searching for fish or shells with fishing poles, nets, or sifters and naming it.
A sand and water table with various materials to use for exploration and learning will greatly benefit the five and six year old learners in my Kindergarten class.
The sifters, funnels, manipulatives with numerals and letters, magnetic fish, nets for scooping, and pure, clean sand will give them many hours of hands on concept building. This project will affect hundreds of children through the years to come. It affects some of the most difficult concepts in math that require hands on learning.
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As a teacher-founded nonprofit, we're trusted by thousands of teachers and supporters across the country. This classroom request for funding was created by Ms. Mankins and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.